I watched as my young crepe myrtle tree leaned horizontally, almost parallel with the ground. Its soft wood was not sturdy enough to stand up to the 40-plus-mile-per-hour wind speeds. Tossed and badly battered, it looked hopelessly doomed. I feared it might be uprooted and blow away before I could stake it to provide the support needed in its tender state.
PRAYER SUPPORTS FAITH. During difficult times, nothing is more appropriate than the support provided by prayer. We cry out to God and we are comforted by knowing that he hears us in our distress. In a state of brokenness, we are humbled before God. Our pride melts in his presence. We are made low in our own eyes and broken off from all self-confidence. When the heart is broken and tender, the humble spirit is then pliable and most receptive to the influence of grace. As peace floods the soul of one in need of healing, they recognize that God is near to them in a special way. Faith flourishes in the soil of brokenness when held up by the strong support of prayer.
FAITH SUPPORTS HOPE. Friends often attempt to comfort a hurting one by telling them that they also went through some challenging circumstances that were as bad, or worse, than theirs and that this, too, shall pass. A deeply wounded person will not be soothed by this; their case is not like others. It’s more desperate, perhaps incurable. There is no way to reverse the damage done. This misery cannot be helped by human effort, but God has the power to help and heal! He has a salve for even the sorest of sores and the skilled hands to apply the medicine. When we pray to God, in faith, we can wait in hopeful expectation for a remedy to heal even the meanest of maladies.
Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is the glue. Eugene Gladstone O’Neill
HOPE SUPPORTS HEALING. The brokenhearted condition is one that leaves a heavy burden on the heart, as if crushing it by sorrow. When we pray, we admit our inability to solve our problem and we leave our case in the hands of God. The hope engaged by faithful prayer does not promise certain recovery from the injury. Still, we can have complete confidence in the belief that God will do what is best. God may not perform a miracle in answering our prayers, yet he still completes a great healing work with the growth of grace in our souls.
How do you approach times of brokenness? With increased faith and restored hope? Prayer is the stake that supports healing.
And by the prayer of faith the man who is ill will be made well, and he will be lifted up by the Lord … James 5:15
Susi Robinson Rutz 